Pro Cycling Manager 2021
- June 3, 2021
- Cyanide Studio
- 31h median play time
Get on Steam"Pro Cycling Manager 2021" is a cycling simulation game that lets you manage a pro cycling team in a career mode with realism enhanced by new features such as licensed brands and improved peloton behavior. Objectives have been revamped, and national teams and European Championships have been added. Experience quick simulations that resemble real races, and handle responsibilities like rider recruitment, sponsorships, finances, and equipment management.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Fun and addictive gameplay for cycling fans, especially in career mode.
- New features like wind zones and individualized objectives add depth to the racing experience.
- The game provides a unique cycling management experience that can be enjoyable despite its flaws.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, including crashes and AI issues.
- Many players feel that the game lacks significant new features and is essentially a rehash of previous versions.
- The user interface is often described as unintuitive, making it difficult to manage team strategies and objectives.
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is plagued by significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, particularly in key features like championships and time trials. Players report poor performance, including low frame rates and lag, suggesting a lack of polish and attention from the developers. Overall, the game feels unfinished and frustratingly unreliable.
“This one is so buggy, it looks like the devs have given up halfway through and thought 'this will do'.”
“Every time they introduce some new features but also more glitches.”
“World and European championships do not work, time trials are glitchy, and team time trials are just completely unplayable.”
- graphics4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as neat, but there are significant performance issues, with some players experiencing low frame rates and lag despite having capable hardware. Critics note that the developers have made minimal updates over the years, leading to a sense of stagnation in visual improvements.
“Graphically, it looks neat and I'm having a blast playing it.”
“Cyanide Studio, with the help of publisher Nacon, has been selling the same product year after year to its fans, with minimal patches. The updates in the graphics look too.”
“Cyanide Studio, with the help of publisher Nacon, has been selling the same product year after year to its fans with minimal patches; updates in the graphics look too similar.”
“I have a PC that can run the maximum graphics easily, but I only get 15 FPS, and the game feels very laggy and buggy.”
“For years, I played baseball games that would make the game graphics worse by trying to change them every year.”
- music3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers express a desire for new music in the game, noting that the main menu features the same tracks as in the previous installment, PCM18. This repetition has led to a sense of stagnation in the game's audio experience.
“Perhaps it's also time to create some new music, because the main menu still has the same music as in PCM18.”
“Perhaps it's also time to create some new music, because the main menu still has the same music as in PCM18.”
“Same music.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to the cumbersome contract negotiation process with an AI that is perceived as irrational and punishing. While the initial gameplay is enjoyable, the repetitive nature of grinding detracts from the overall experience.
“This was all fun and well (except for quite a large amount of bugs or mysteriously missing features, like the possibility to apply for a wild card), until I started the incredibly tedious and boring process of 'negotiating' contracts with a stupid, irrational, and incredibly punishing AI.”
“The grinding in this game feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“I found myself doing the same tasks over and over again just to progress, which quickly became frustrating.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The optimization of team rankings in the game has been criticized for relying on rider stat ratings rather than their actual performance during the season, leading to a disconnect between realistic expectations and in-game mechanics.
“The weirdest flaw, in my opinion, is that your team's ranking is based on the riders you have on contract for the following season. While this is realistic, it seems to be determined by the stat ratings of the riders rather than their actual performances in the season, such as wins, which does not make any sense!”
“The optimization in this game feels off; it prioritizes arbitrary stat ratings over real performance metrics, leading to a disconnect between how teams are ranked and how they actually perform.”
“It's frustrating that the game's ranking system relies on outdated rider stats instead of their current season performance, making the optimization feel unrealistic and poorly implemented.”
- gameplay1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The gameplay is engaging and evolves significantly over time, with players noting a deepening experience after extensive play. Many appreciate the mechanics and challenges that keep the game fresh and enjoyable, even after 40 hours. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its depth and variety.
